During a turbulent time for civic engagement in the U.S., we surveyed first- and second-generation immigrants on voting, activism and barriers to civic participation.
By Alexandra Arriaga
A 2019 protest in downtown Chicago against ICE and Border Patrol. (Photo: Antwon McMullen / Shutterstock.com)
How do immigrant communities in Chicago build power and participate in democracy? This is the question driving my Residency at City Bureau, and this spring we started to tackle this complicated question by surveying a group of first- and second-generation immigrants. I wanted to break down how we define community, power and civic participation, and these three responses in particular show both the challenges immigrant communities encounter and the tools available to building power.
“To me democracy means voting is the obvious answer, but that is one part of it. To me, democracy in action means going out into the street to organization rallies, to go to representatives to make or repeal certain laws.”
“We build power through connecting to others. If you are isolated, nothing will happen. You have to connect with others to start living in a different way.”
“When you do not have to worry about food on the table when you don’t have to worry about your job at the end of the month ... You’re going to have a lot more space in your mind about who your alderman is and whether or not they’re doing things that affect you in a positive way. ... We have to support [immigrants] and give them the resources they need to be able to focus on electoral politics and civic engagement.”
Thinking along these lines, the survey sought insights and perspectives on civic activities ranging from electoral participation like voting and campaign contributions to other actions like protesting, filling out the census or joining community groups. We recruited City Bureau Documenters to attend a free training and take paid assignments to conduct the 30-question survey during May and June.
Some Documenters found participants through their own networks, and I also recruited participants through Facebook groups and community contacts. The team of Documenters surveyed in total 15 first-generation immigrants and 18 second-generation immigrants (people who have at least one immigrant parent), to capture generational differences and examples of building intergenerational power and community. Mindful of barriers to civic participation, I also sought information related to employment, language and access to childcare. Some Documenters used their language skills to translate the surveys into other languages like Spanish and Urdu.
First-generation participants: Five came from Mexico, two from Peru and one from the nine other countries represented in this chart.
Second-generation participants: Six said their parent(s) came from Mexico, four had parents from China, two from Colombia, two from South Korea and one from the other countries represented in this chart.
For some participants, their family’s immigrant background was a motivating factor in civic actions. One 27-year-old respondent said her father had been imprisoned in Ethiopia for “being vocal about things important in our community.” To her, filling out the census was part of her greater conviction that to be vocal, and to be counted, is important.
In other instances, second-generation immigrants said they used their U.S. upbringing to engage their parents on local issues.
“I think in short, they are not politically engaged at all… First of all, they don't speak English. So they don't know, like so much what's going on. I think the news that they do pay attention to is usually news from China. So it's like a Chinese perspective on what's happening in the U.S. even though they are in the U.S. as an immigrant. Just because it's so much of what's happening here is so inaccessible to them,” a 23-year-old man said about his parents. He also said they usually follow his lead on voting decisions.
All 18 second-generation participants chose to vote in recent elections. Eleven said their most recent vote was in the March primary, two cited the 2019 Chicago elections and four said their last vote was in the 2016 presidential election. For immigrant participants eligible to vote, one person said they never voted because they “never really paid attention to politics.” Others voted in recent elections — six voted in the March primary, two in 2019, one last voted in 2018 and one last voted in 2016.
Of the five participants who are not eligible to vote, one person said she participated in electoral politics through voter outreach and knocking on doors, another person said he would participate as a translator to get out the vote. One person said he contributed financially during Bernie Sanders’ primary campaign. The other two did not participate in electoral politics.
“I really don't know what to say because I'm really just not allowed to vote, I just live. It’s a really weird perspective because I really am not allowed to make a choice in the democracy around here in Chicago. I know I have more freedom than in even other parts of the country. I don't have much I can say regarding this,” one respondent said. “At least in Chicago there’s more opportunities for Latino immigrants to have a voice.”
This participant gave an example of Berto Aguayo, a former gang member who went on to graduate from Dominican University, ran for office and co-founded Increase the Peace to battle street violence.
Some surveys were conducted while protests broke out across the country in reaction to the police killing of George Floyd. We asked participants: “Have you ever participated in an organized protest? If so, what kind, and why?” The top three issues mentioned in response to this question were Black Lives Matter, anti-Trump and immigrant-rights protests. Some mentioned labor protests or strikes, environmental-related protests, anti-violence actions and women’s marches or reproductive-rights protests. One respondent shared that her first demonstration was in high school, to stand up for the 43 missing students from Ayotzinapa, Mexico. Another participant shared that she attended a Mexican demonstration against femicide and machismo.
We asked about people’s experiences in religious spaces, advocacy organizations, mutual aid and neighborhood groups, or school- and work-related organizations. One respondent mentioned it was a community-based group which supports Mexican women which helped her navigate the process of migrating. Others mentioned organizations which empowered them in the city through advocacy or culture like Mujeres Latinas en Acción, the South West Organizing Project, Dragons Athletic Association, United Steelworkers, and the Mariachi Academy.
A 48-year-old woman from Mexico shared that when she began working with the Southwest Organizing Project, “everything changed.” She received mentorship, was paid for ten hours of work a week and gained a sense of purpose. One 61-year-old woman from Mexico shared that she’s participated in Latina women’s workshops, and she appreciated the discussions around health and community problems that came out of the group “under the excuse of yoga classes.”
This year, groups that are promoting census participation in immigrant communities have faced obstacles from the threat of a citizenship question and the shutdown of in-person outreach due to COVID-19. Although Chicago’s response rate leads other cities, some areas where immigrant communities are concentrated have been slow to respond. Participants in our survey all said their household would complete the census, except for one person who said hedidn’t know. Often, respondents recognized that completing the census would bring resources to their communities.
“A census seems important to me, but I was afraid at first, I had doubts in case they put a [citizenship] question—or if they took away the promise they made to undocumented immigrants [about not sharing data with other government agencies],” one respondent said, explaining how she changed her mind and decided she would complete the census.
What’s next?
We could not have predicted that this survey project would have occurred during a period of major social unrest in the middle of a pandemic, but because of this we also learned a lot about immigrant vulnerabilities in the workplace, the intersections between movements for immigrant rights and Black lives and how immigrants in Chicago, as well as a generation born to immigrants, view their responsibility to empower their communities during this time. I think collecting these interviews are valuable not only as data for research but as oral histories and as an invitation to both those who were interviewed and the Documenters to think differently of civic participation. I give credit to the Documenters for sharing their thoughtful takeaways of their conversations.
One Documenter shared that they had an incredibly difficult interview.
“It reminded me how many layers there are to being an immigrant. Especially as a woman,” this Documenter said. “It also made me aware of how much religion impacted decisions about involvement. The interviewee identifies as Muslim. I do too. However, our beliefs do not align.”
In reporting on the challenges and customs of immigrants in Chicago, this Documenter makes an important observation about how important it is to see the spectrum of experiences and identities. You’ll see expanded follow-up reporting and interviews with some of those who participated in this project, expanding on themes of intergenerational power-building, electoral participation and social movements. Interested in sending tips? You can email me alex@citybureau.org.
Thank you to all Documenters who participated in the project: Gonzalo Guzman, Ayesha Riaz, Paco Alvarez, Alex Ding, Jazmine Valadez, Helena Duncan, Angela Risi, Navjot Heer, Marissa De La Cerda, Anna Aguiar Kosicki, Matthew Gladly, Alina Panek, Mallory Cheng, Sebastian Gonzalez de Leon y Leon, Amy Maldonado, Anna Luy Tan, Grace Del Vecchio and Woojae Julia Song.
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